Andre McKechnie Loses Supreme Court Bid to Eat Vegemite in Prison

Australia's Victoria Supreme Court ruled on Monday that Andre McKechnie has no human right to consume Vegemite while serving his life sentence, upholding a state prohibition on the yeast spread inside prisons.

McKechnie, serving life for the stabbing murder of property developer Otto Kuhne in Queensland more than 30 years ago, sued Victoria's corrections department after prison staff refused him the spread. He argued the refusal deprived him of his right to enjoy his Australian culture. "Without being able to consume Vegemite, I feel deprived of being able to practise my Australian culture, sad and disconnected from my family and community," he told the court.

Corrections Victoria added Vegemite to its contraband list in 2006, citing concerns that the product interfered with narcotic detection dogs. The yeast content also created a risk that the spread could be used to brew alcohol. Prison authorities and the commissioner argued that neither the Corrections Act nor the human rights charter grants a right to the food.

Justice Claire Harris acknowledged that Vegemite might form part of Australian culture and that the human rights charter could cover certain foods. She nonetheless called the prohibition a proportionate measure tied to prison management duties. "It is demonstrably justified by the reasons identified by the (state), which are directly related to the discharge of prison authorities' statutory obligations, including those relating to the management, security and good order of the prison and the safe custody and welfare of the prisoners," Harris said. The court found no infringement of McKechnie's right to food adequate to maintain a prisoner's health and wellbeing.

The ruling leaves the ban intact across Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania. New South Wales permits the spread inside its correctional centres.

McKechnie was sentenced to life for the killing and transferred to a Victorian prison 10 years into his term. Vegemite was developed in Melbourne in 1923 as an alternative to Marmite. Bega acquired the brand from Kraft in 2013.